Reducing $695M of $9.7B. That isn't even 10%. Does anyone think this will destroy our national security?

5:58 pm September 13, 2011

Gaius Baltar wrote:

We already have total and complete air superiority and we're spending billions on a new fighter? Tell the top guns that they'll have to wait for new toys.

6:22 pm September 13, 2011

Anonymous wrote:

So we are going to cancel a program that saves lives on the ground now, the JLTV, to fund a program on the F-35 that future use is sooooo far out in the future?

6:29 pm September 13, 2011

Cuts wrote:

So cuts to defense are $26B/553B approx. 5%. That seems like a huge risk to our national security.

6:50 pm September 13, 2011

Tea baggin' ain't easy wrote:

Of course communist pinko radicals like Sen. Daniel Inouye (D., Hawaii) are going to try to cut defense spending. This guy has no understanding about what it takes to protect this country or fight for the freedoms he enjoys. What a coward marxist.

6:53 pm September 13, 2011

OMG wrote:

"So cuts to defense are $26B/553B approx. 5%. That seems like a huge risk to our national security."

Because more $ = more safety... LOL

6:54 pm September 13, 2011

Conservative wrote:

We shouldn't cut anything out of our defense budget, we should cut our soldier's pay. Maybe we can start by charging them for their overseas meals.

6:56 pm September 13, 2011

Conservative wrote:

Really we already do that. Well, maybe we can charge them rent for their tents.

6:57 pm September 13, 2011

Conservative wrote:

Really we already do that. Well, maybe we can charge them for their medical costs when they do something stupid and get hurt in the line of battle.

6:58 pm September 13, 2011

Conservative wrote:

Oh yeah good idea, we can give them a loan to cover it and then we can charge them interest too.

7:10 pm September 13, 2011

Conservative wrote:

Better yet, give them a credit card, then we can charge them 28-30%.

8:46 pm September 13, 2011

Ken from Austin, TX wrote:

USA Intelligence agencies spend 50 billion dollars per year. The NSA monitors ALL emails, phone calls, and web traffic originating both inside and outside the USA. That's right, the NSA scans these posts. All to fight third world deadenders of extremely limited capability and destructive power.

10 years of stupid Muslim wars ... ENOUGH ALREADY !

8:57 pm September 13, 2011

Conservative wrote:

Great idea, Ken, maybe we can charge them muslims for monitoring their emails. Oh, you say, we are already getting paid for that by the Saudis. Well don't worry I'll think of something.

10:26 am September 14, 2011

Martin Doa wrote:

more miss-guided drivel from Washington....makes perfect sense the open-loop banks and their DC enablers precipitated this debacle, yet many of the same enablers are attempting to treat the symptom by cutting those low-paying low-tech jobs......clearly clueless

11:00 am September 14, 2011

Anonymous wrote:

Congress can "take aim" all it wants. They won't hit the F-35 -- it's a stealth jet.

12:37 pm September 14, 2011

Common Sense wrote:

We want to support and create high tech jobs, yet want to kill one of the biggest programs that already supports them. We already killed the F-22 program (big mistake). So we should kill any advancement in air superiority and sit and watch as China advances more and more.... so it can lead to another cold war.. right? I'm for spending a little extra to stay comfortably far ahead.

12:52 pm September 14, 2011

Jonathan Katz wrote:

Zero it. There is no plausible threat against which this would be useful.

Manned fighters are obsolete. An unmanned fighter would be more capable (higher acceleration, smaller profile to all sensors) as well as cheaper, and could be exposed to higher risks.

1:05 pm September 14, 2011

Tim wrote:

Cut 3 Army divisions. Stop foreign adventures that need a large army presence. Keep all advanced technology programs. We should stay far ahead of everybody else on the planet.

1:34 pm September 14, 2011

Lame - Common Sense wrote:

Very, very, lame. Don't you get it. We don't have high tech in America anymore, cost too much. Do you know how expensive it is to educate a kid for a PhD in Physics in America. I know by the time they get out their fully in our power cuz of debt and all but heck the Chinese come over here and pay for the PhD doesn't cost the taxpayer anything. Its great for capitalism. And since we have the reserve currency, we still own them anyway. Its just bookkeeping.

2:19 pm September 14, 2011

Gen. Teabagger wrote:

Dang it - if we're going to invade some banana republic that presents no threat, in order to "fight for our freedoms," we're gonna need this jet!

2:30 pm September 14, 2011

Resourceguy wrote:

Rename the plane the V22 Osprey update and Dems will love it. Funny how that works. And they used a guy from far offshore to do their bidding.

2:36 pm September 14, 2011

@Resourceguy wrote:

V22 is made in Texas. No worries. Best part is Saudis already placed orders. We can help those capitalists keep control of their rats too.

4:52 pm September 14, 2011

@@Resourceguy wrote:

At a similar point in development timeline the V22 was a sacred cow of Dems no matter how many times it crashed.

11:08 pm September 14, 2011

Curmdgn wrote:

Tea baggin' ain't easy wrote:

Of course communist pinko radicals like Sen. Daniel Inouye (D., Hawaii) are going to try to cut defense spending. This guy has no understanding about what it takes to protect this country or fight for the freedoms he enjoys. What a coward marxist.

Although you may strongly disagree with Senator Inouye's politics, I find it difficult to impugne the patriotism and heroism of a MEDAL OF HONOR recipient!

11:52 pm September 16, 2011

Matt wrote:

It is stuffed now anyway way to expensive to what was planned around 500 JSF in the hands of allies in the Asia/Pacific, before you even count the US deployments in the region. That was above the number of PLA J-20 procurements around 400, without the US. No ships, no planes.

7:04 pm September 19, 2011

Will Deming wrote:

At some point the DoD and the contractors will need to have a very serious discussion about planning, budgets, r&d, qualitycontrol and manufacturing prowess. $5 billion ships and $400 million airplanes are now officially unaffordable, while the current inventory slips into entropy and we continue to fly B-52s. Time to figure out how to do better and do it for less, lest we wind up with a 50-ship Navy and a 1000-plane air fleet.

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Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession of glimpses at what’s happening behind hot stories and warnings of what to watch for in the days ahead. The Wire is led by Reid J. Epstein, with contributions from the rest of the bureau. Washington Wire now also includes Think Tank, our home for outside analysis from policy and political thinkers.